KUALA LUMPUR: The onus is on the authorities to track down people who have had close contact or encounter with attendees of a massive religious gathering two weeks ago.
However, experts stopped short of calling for a nationwide lockdown as the country entered the “late containment phase” with its biggest spike of Covid-19 cases.
The highest number of cases was recorded yesterday at 190, bringing the nationwide tally to 428.
The medical fraternity’s main concern was the Herculean task to tracking down 16,000 attendees of a three-day event at Masjid Jamek Seri Petaling Selangor. Up to Saturday, 4,942 participants in the mosque’s “ijtima tabligh” have been identified.
Public Health Specialist Association president Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin said there were other measures that could be used by the government instead of placing the country under lockdown, which could hurt the economy.
“Although some quarters might assume that putting the country on a lockdown is a good strategy, it will trigger panic and is detrimental to the economy.”
He said the government should mobilise a task force comprising various enforcement agencies to help the Health Ministry to track down close contacts of patients who tested positive in the Seri Petaling tabligh cluster.
“Instead of a lockdown, the government can mobilise security agencies, like the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) and police, to track down close contacts (of confirmed Covid-19 cases).
“The close contacts should undergo screening to prevent a further spread of the infection. The government should also consider setting up an operation centre at the community-level, similar to flood operation centres, that can assist in the early detection of potential cases.”
Dr Zainal said the spike in confirmed cases in the last few days was expected as the turnout at the tabligh was huge.
Datuk Dr Musa Mohd Nordin, a former president of the Federation of Islamic Medical Associations, said Malaysia did not need to follow the steps taken by China and Italy as the local situation was different.
He, instead, proposed that the government emulate South Korea’s module “to flatten” the Covid-19 epidemic curve.
“South Korea has been very successful in reducing confirmed cases from 900 per day to less than 100 per day, and it’s declining further.
“We should continue to screen, through temperature checks and rt-PCR (reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction) testing, to detect the positive cases and isolate them.
“Self-quarantine should be advised in appropriate clinical settings,” said Dr Musa, a consultant paediatrician at Damansara Specialist Hospital.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said the spike yesterday was five times more than the cases reported on Saturday.
“Most of them were related to the Seri Petaling mosque tabligh cluster. To date, nine positive cases are being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) and need respiratory assistance.”
He reminded those who attended the gathering and their close contacts to come forward and screen for the virus.
“If they refuse, we will ‘hunt’ them down and monitor them as provided for under Section 15(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 for 14 days.”
Dr Adham said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin would hold a special meeting with both the Health and Defence Ministries today to discuss the next move to handle Covid-19.
He also explained the magnitude of screenings at the busy Malaysia-Singapore border at the Causeway and Second Link.
He said from Jan 5 until yesterday, some 6.8 million people entering through all entry points in Johor had been screened for the virus.
“So far, no cases of Covid-19 have been detected at these entry points,” he said.
Several doctors had called for a nationwide lockdown following the spike in cases. However, lawyers said only the prime minister and the National Security Council could order a lockdown.
Senior lawyer K.A. Ramu said a lockdown or emergency could be declared if the situation became a threat to national security based on the National Security Council Act 2016.
The provision, Act 776, gave the prime minister the power to declare a “national security area” on the advice of the council.
He said the council was made up of the prime minister, deputy prime minister, defence minister, home affairs minister, multimedia and communications minister, and inspector-general of police.
Ramu said the prime minister had to discuss with the members of the council first before declaring a lockdown.
However, he agreed that the current Covid-19 situation posed a threat to the nation and the government should be more proactive in tackling it.
He suggested that limiting the movement of people should be implemented by the state.
“The government can also have curfews in some areas. Italy, for example, imposed a lockdown of its northern region. But the government should also discuss with other related authorities and agencies on the matter,” he said. -- Additional reporting by Esther Landau